Sett slowly made his way back home to the residential district, taking the long way around. He went further north, turning left from Laira’s store, towards the fountain at the center of the commercial district. The walk gave him some time to clear his head, the chill of the cool air calming his turbulent emotions.
He hadn't thought much about his mother recently. He thought he was over her death, it had been 7 years after all. Normally, he was. He was able to talk about her, reminisce without crying, or even feeling particularly sad. Like it was a fact, like the Ether everywhere. But there was something about Laira that made him feel his emotions. Truly feel his mother's absence. Coupled with how tired he felt that evening, Sett couldn't help but let his emotions take over.
He walked slowly, taking in the buildings around him. The restaurants were still open, but a lot of the other stores had closed for the evening. There were still people walking the streets though. It was barely dinner time, and a lot of people chose to eat here on their way back from the farms. The bars and food joints were loud and crowded, a combination Sett normally enjoyed but tonight wasn’t the time. He wanted some alone time. Loud and crowded was an atmosphere his mother reveled in, and walking into such a place after the talk he just had didn’t seem enjoyable. He would like some alcohol, though, and the rakeseed grain whiskey that Mupnal and the nearby communes in the Teh’ner Plains were famous for sounded ideal to Sett. He didn’t need to go to a bar for that however, since he knew his father would have a bottle or two at home.
He had hoped to sit by the fountain at the center of the commercial district for some much needed brooding, but he should’ve expected the situation he was faced with. The coping around the fountain had three couples sitting on it, probably hoping to get some quiet time. One of the pairs was immersed in an intense embrace, their mouths so intertwined with each other that even glancing over made Sett blush. The four benches arranged around the fountain were mostly occupied as well. Two of them with couples, one had three kids playing clapping games, and the fourth an old man doing some brooding or contemplating of his own. Sett debated sitting next to him, but that would put the increasingly physical duo right in his line of sight, something he was too shy to even think of.
He shook his head and approached the fountain, standing in a relatively vacant area. He started into the pristine, dark water reflecting the clouds above. The stars were visible through the clouds and for a moment, Sett wondered what they were like. He imagined wandering amongst them in a starship, maybe one built by the famous Starwing Shipyards, a starship manufacturer so massive that the standard unit of measuring large-scale distances across the universe is named after one of their ships. He wondered what it would feel like using a Jump Gate to travel thousands of Truewing Years in an instant. There weren’t many starships in the Krakarian Star System, almost all of them concentrated around Krakar I and II. There was no need for them in the Resource colonies, and there was obviously no place for a blacksmith from a tiny farming planet on one of them.
Sett could imagine a farfetched path to getting on one. Maybe if he specialized in making something more useful in a starship, like weapons or Rigsteel smithing, and set up shop in Central City. He could get an opportunity to go to one of the Krakar planets. He was talented enough for that if he put his mind to it. He could take the help of the Tier 4 system on Krakar II or even the Tier 3 in Krakar I, to ascend to E grade. At that point he may be noticed by the government, and be recruited into a starship. But for that, he’ll inevitably end up working for the Krakarian Military Corps or the government, and after listening to his uncle’s stories, he did not like the idea.
He wondered how his mother would feel, should he end up working for the government, or even move away from Mupnal. She’d be happy for his ambitions, but vary of the military, probably. Uncle Tecc was his father’s brother, but he’s close enough to the family that they’ve all begun to feel the same way about the military. Sett could imagine her in Central City, as he set up his store. She’d ask him to make her weapons or farming equipment. She’d insist on accompanying him to the main planets. She might even pick a fight with his competitors. He missed her tonight. More than he had in recent years.
Sett stared at the waters with a melancholic face, his heart heavy. A light wind blew past him, sending a shiver across his body and reminding him it was time to head home. As is custom in Mupnal, Sett cupped his hands, bent over and took a little water, taking a small sip and letting the rest fall. He didn’t know how the custom originated or why, but he’s seen almost everyone from the commune do it. He turned westward, walking towards the northern wing of the commercial district, and the longer way back home. He had a vacant expression on his face, and he barely noticed the light crowd on the streets that night. The luster of the glow stones reflecting off the Cupric Stone buildings would be a sight to see on most nights, but Sett barely noticed as his mind wandered.
A grab on his shoulders from behind knocked him out of his trance. He spun around, jumping away from his assailant, instincts honed by his father’s strict lectures during the handful of hunting trips he was allowed on. He began raising his hands to block a blow as he studied his grabber. He saw two similar looking boys, both with square faces and sharp features. The one who grabbed him was grinning playfully, wearing blue overalls covered in mud, and farming boots. He had short, dark hair, cut into a crew cut. His muscles were big and defined, more so than expected from farm work. The other boy was dressed similar, his brown overalls covered in hay. He had longer hair up to his chin, wavy and matted, no doubt from a hard day on the farm.
“By the Ancestor, Brec, you scared me. Don’t sneak up on me like that again, man”
Sett relaxed, recognising the Throh twins, Brec and Bone. They were two years younger and lived in the same apartment complex as he did. Sett grew up with them, and had come to see the two as his own brothers. They worked on their family’s farm, north of the commune.
“Hehe, you seemed so out of it, Sett. Like you were possessed by a mind mage or something, it was so funny,” Brec remarked. The boy had always been full of energy, even at the end of a day spent in the farm during harvest season. Sett had been dragged on an adventure in the Woods with him one morning when they were children, a whole exhausting day spent exploring the outskirts of the forest. They ended up sprinting back to Sett’s family farm in the evening, after being spooked by a Bullbeast that wandered too far. Brec had immediately insisted on playing border ball once they got back, not a minute of rest needed.
“Yeah, today was a long day. I had a commission for Laira I just delivered, and I’m exhausted now. Hi Bone. What are you guys up to?”
“Hey Sett. We’re headed back home now. An old Bullbeast collapsed today so Dad decided to kill it. We had a little grill at the farm, now we’re headed home,” Bone replied. He sounded exhausted, the farm work draining him and the hearty meal making him drowsy. He was a lot more subdued than his brother, and Sett found him easier to get along with right now.
“I don’t like Laira. She pinches my cheeks sometimes. It hurts,” Brec complained, his pinchable cheeks pouting. They began walking together, Sett welcoming the distraction.
“You guys are almost 15 aren’t you? Time for your System Onset?” The System became visible to everyone on the planet the moment they turned 15. Resource III’s system was a basic Tier 5, which showed them nothing much more than their basic stats, level, a map that pointed to the nearest Ether Train station, and a compass. Sett had heard that higher tier systems could directly increase someone’s stats with each level up, and even help with grade evolutions. Tier 5 systems, however, just scanned you and displayed what your stats were. Increasing them, and increasing your level, had to be done yourself. A system was installed on to the planet core of a planet, the tier depending on how powerful the core was, and how much the planet’s rulers cared to spend. The only purpose of putting a system on resource planets was for data collection for the Empire. Higher tier systems that could empower individuals were too expensive and probably beyond the capability of the planet core anyway.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Yess we’re a week away! I’m so hyped man, I’ve been preparing for months! I’ve been working out heavily to increase my strength stat, and tons of border ball for agility too. When dad’s not looking I’ve been pulling the plows with the Bullbeast too sometimes! I need to hit 10 in strength, agility and endurance by level 5 to enlist with the Military.”
“So you’re still dead set on the military? Are you sure? You know what uncle Tecc says”
“Uncle Tecc is boring, he doesn’t get how cool the rebellion crushing campaigns were. There’s no ongoing campaigns right now but I really hope they start something soon! I’ll join the infantry first and hopefully get to be a melee officer. With a sick battleaxe!” Brec droned on eagerly about mowing down enemies with his axe instead of “boring” weapons like rifles. Sett had hoped Brec’s infatuation with the military was some fleeting obsession he sometimes gets, but it looked like he put a lot of thought and effort into the idea since the last time they spoke.
“I don’t know man, uncle Tecc knows what he’s talking about.” Seeing Brec’s expression change, he quickly added, “Bone, are you still going plant mage?“
Bone looked up from his fatigued, empty gaze, “Huh? Oh, yeah I am. There are a few in Central City who might take apprentices. I don’t know if they’d pick me though, a ton of people want to be mages.”
Mages were rare in the resource planets, since the profession had strict requirements for affinity, and the intelligence & wisdom stats. Beyond that, being a mage required a lot of study, so apprenticeships were longer than for other professions. Almost all mages in Resource III lived in Central City, all of them nature mages specialized in agriculture. Bone planned on following that same path, so he could be a resident nature mage for Mupnal.
“You’re really smart man, it’s like you have Brec's brains too. That bastard’s all muscle up there”
“All muscle is what you need to be a hero,” Brec grinned. “Maybe if you’re half as good as you say, I’ll have you make me an axe. It’s a huge honor, making the battleaxe of the great General Brec.” Brec flexed his bicep and gazed into the distance with a cocky grin.
“Generally kind of stupid,” Bone mumbled.
“What was that, you little shit?”
Sett ignored Brec holding Bone in a chokehold, quite familiar with their squabbling. Sett’s unusually somber mood stopped him from testing his forge-honed strength against Brec’s workout like he normally would, instead letting his mind wander to his own System Onset. As they turned south towards the residential area, he pulled up his own system page, looking at how far he’d come in two years.
Name: Sett Keidum
Race: Human [F]
Age: 17
Level: 6
HP: 100/100
Ether Capacity: 70/70
Strength: 11 Intelligence: 7
Agility: 8. Wisdom: 9
Endurance: 10. Perception: 9
He’d grown 5 levels in two years, something that was well above average as far as anyone he’d spoken to knew. His strength increased by 3 points, and his endurance increased by 2, in his time in the smithy. The system didn’t acknowledge levels with just stat increases, it used a complicated formula that measured their growth in technique and expertise in whatever work they did, along with how well they circulated Ether within their body, and used the ubiquitous energy in their work. Sett was a fast learner, his skill with the hammer growing exponentially. Once he started Ether crafting, he could imagine increases in wisdom as his control over Ether improved, and a quick few levels as he practiced circulating Ether through his body.
“I want to do that.”
“What?”
“You’re looking at your system page aren’t you? I want to do that,” Brec said, an arm around Bone’s neck. Bone seemed to have accepted his fate, content with being dragged around. He tilted his head a little and raised his eyes, both brothers looking at Sett longingly.
“Wait a week and you’ll have it. It’s fun playing around with it in the first few days”
“What’s it like, when it comes?” Bone asked, prompting Sett to reminisce about his own Onset.
It was already floating in front of him when he woke up on the morning of his 15th birthday. It took him a few minutes to dismiss it. Until then it just floated in front of him, taking up most of his vision. He had spent the next hour bringing it up and hiding it over and over again. His father had baked a cake that morning, and they spent the day going through his stats, and comparing his status window with his father’s. His brother, Mitt, had been excited at first but soon started sulking at the lack of attention. He wished his mother had been there. She’d have poured him a glass of whiskey, even though you had to be at least level 5 to start legally drinking.
“It’s like a big, blue floating thing in front of you. With words. Actually, just words. Big blue, floating words.” He knew he didn’t make much sense but he didn’t know how to explain the feeling. “Oh, and you just need to think ‘dismiss’ to dismiss the screen. It just sort of floats in front of you when you wake up. It took me a while to figure out.”
“That’s cause you’re an idiot.”
“Yeah, whatever you say brickhead. Good luck getting a battleaxe out of me.”
“I’ll get Thane to make it”
“He’ll smack you with his hammer if you go to him for weapons.”
“I’ll get the military’s best smiths to make me one”
“Yeah cause you’re a Krakar prince for them to personally make your stupid axe”
The banter went on until they reached the residential district, lifting Sett’s spirits before he went home. He could see the turquoise domes of the housing buildings rising far above the trees of the garden separating the residences from the rest of the commune. The domed roofs contained arrays and transducers that convert ambient Ether into usable forms to power household appliances. Of course, this wasn’t enough to power the nearly 500 houses in each building, but it lessened the load on the Ether collection stations on the outskirts of the commune.
They walked past the garden and entered the district, which consisted of a hundred U-shaped buildings of 12 floors each, arranged in a 10 by 10 grid. Each building had a courtyard in the middle, where the children play when they’re not in school or helping on the farm. Most of the commune preferred to live in the residential district, including the Council members. Only a few wealthy families chose to build homes to the west of the commune, away from the other residences. Sett liked being surrounded by people, families he grew up with. The people in his building raised him, and he loved them like family.
“I’ll see you next week guys. I’m not going to miss your Onset. Just to show you how far away we are in stats,” Sett said as they reached building 4-6, meaning the fourth row and sixth column.
“Yeah, sure, I bet my strength’s a lot more than yours even now”
“Wanna try?”
“Let’s go, you-” Bone held back his brother before he could charge at Sett and waved. “We have to go man, mom’s probably pissed. Bye Sett!”
“Bye Bone”
The Throhs lived on the ground floor, so Sett waved them goodbye as he entered the courtyard and headed to the elevator. He had a long day and he was glad to be home.